History:
A
new breed created in England in the 1980s The coat s white with splashes of color.
There are both short-haired and long-haired versions. The eyes are blue. The markings are
of three types:
1. white with a colored tail, and large patches of color on the head, body and legs;
2. white with a colored tail, and small patches of color on the head and legs;
3. almost entirely white, with a colored tail and only small patches of color on the head.
While
reading reports on cat gene surveys in the late 1970s Patricia Turner of the Scintilia
cattery in Milton Keynes, England, became inspired by a wish to re-create the coat
patterns reported by Professor Paul jaffe in his study of the cats of the Seychelles. This
became possible in 1984 when she acquired two Persian cats - both tortie and white - which
became the foundation cats of the new breed. One stayed at the Scintilla cattery and the
other went to Julie Smith's Dovetrees cattery. As the generation numbers advanced the
breeding programme evolved towards a Seychellespatterned cat of Orlental body type and
Siamese blue eyes. The foundation females were Patricia Turner's Snowdrop Gentle Pedilase
and Julie Smith's Dovetrees Tarantella and the foundation males were Scintilla Pastelle
Royale and Champion Scintilla Caramellian of jamais. Both males were Siamese. Progeny from
matings between these four cats were backcrossed to Siamese and Oriental mates and their
progeny were mated like to like to achieve the Seychelles coat pattern. The programme is
still continuing and in some lines the fifth generation has been reached. The first
Seychellespatterned cats in the programme were Scintilla Félicité, Scintilla Amirante,
Scintilia Victoria and Scintilla Thérése. Fécilité and Victoria were the first of the
breed to be exhibited In 1989 the Seychellois Cat Society was formed with a founder
membership of Derek and Pauline Parsons of the Shalimar cattery, Maureen Trompetto of the
Lincret cattery, John Mais of the jamais cattery, Shirley Mizon of the Zelstone cattery
and Patricia Turner. Current emphasis upon the breeding of variants by mating back to
Siamese in order to improve type rather than on breeding larger numbers of cats eligible
for the show bench. Variants are cats of Seychellois breeding but with too much colour for
the Seychelles patterns
Colours:
White with any colour or combination of solid colours: see Colours
Patterns: Mainly white with coloured dashes
and splashes of colour occurring randomly on the head, legs and body but always with
coloured tails. The patterns are defined as Seychellois Septiéme (relatively)
| Character:
They are extremely intelligent, curious and loving. Their behavior and
loyalty often resembles what most people expect of a dog more than a cat, as they follow
their owners about, sleeping outside of the door of any room you occupy, that they cannot
enter, and amusing themselves with a toy until they can once again be on your lap. Agile,
swift, muscular and extremely intelligent, they love to play fetch or to make up other
games. They get along easily with other cats and with dogs and yet are independent enough
to adjust to periods of being alone. While
they still 'talk' , their voices are far softer and they speak only when they have
something they feel is important to say. As such, they grow up to make delightful
'watch-cats' often alerting their family when strangers approach or when something seems
'wrong'. They are very alert to their owners and surroundings, but not a hyperactive cat.
Rather, they maintain an easy balance of playing and napping depending on the
circumstances. Personality:
athletic, scatter-brained, demanding and demonstrative
Breeder: Yves Lanceau
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